When Mill Valley Refuse Service sanitation worker Steve Cunningham didn't show up for his weekly Tuesday morning pickup at Saxton Yuill's house five weeks ago, the Edna Maguire first grader knew right away. That's because the 6-year-old Yuill had taken to waiting for Cunningham's 6 a.m. arrival each week – and waiting for his chance to pull the truck's lever to dump the can' contents into the truck.

Cunningham, a San Pablo resident who had been in a major car accident on the Richmond San Rafael Bridge on August 22 that left him paralyzed from the chest down, had developed a special bond with Yuill, 6, over the past year. So when Yuill's mom Ann informed the young boy that Cunningham was sick.

Yuill decided he wanted to do something to help Cunningham, a father of two who'd worked for Mill Valley Refuse for 15 years, and held a pair of bake sales, raising nearly $1,000 from neighbors and friends. The money has already been given to Cunningham's family, and family friend Traci Le Ann Woods says a separate Go Fund Me page has been created to help pay for Cunningham's medical needs.

"We love him so much and need to help provide him with the best care and tools to rehabilitate as much as he can," she says. "He may be confined to a wheel chair, but that can't stop him from being a daddy, a son and a friend. Please help us help him."